A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
What pleasures have great princes? These: to know
Themselves reputed mad with pride or power;
To speak few words — few words and short bring low
This ancient house, that city with flame devour;
To make old men, their father’s enemies,
Drunk on the vintage of the former age;
To have great painters show their mistresses
Naked to the succeeding time; engage
The cunning of able, treacherous ministers
To serve, despite themselves, the cause they hate,
And leave a prosperous kingdom to their heirs
Nursed by the caterpillars of the state;
To keep their spies in good men’s hearts; to read
The malice of the wise, and act betimes;
To hear the Grand Remonstrances of greed
Led by the pure; cheat justice of her crimes;
To beget worthless sons and, being old,
By starlight climb the battlements, and while
The pacing sentry hugs himself for cold,
Keep vigil like a lover, muse and smile,
And think, to see from the grim castle steep
The midnight city below rejoice and shine:
“There my great demon grumbles in his sleep
And dreams of his destruction, and of mine.”
A few random poems:
- Silent Steps by Rabindranath Tagore
- Вера Павлова – В ранец тетрадки собраны
- A Whispered Tale by Siegfried Sassoon
- Sonnet V
- Владимир Высоцкий – Ублажаю ли душу романсом
- Федор Сологуб – Под черёмухой цветущей
- Above The Oxbow by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка про ребёнка-поросёнка
- Владимир Степанов – Потемнели ветви
- Thomas Lux – Thomas Lux
- Наум Коржавин – Памяти Герцена или Баллада об историческом недосыпе
- Olney Hymn 24: Prayer For Children by William Cowper
- Шарль Бодлер – Жажда небытия
- Вероника Тушнова – Ты все еще тревожишься — что будет
- Song of the Wise Children by Rudyard Kipling
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Зинаида Александрова – В гости к бабушке
- Зинаида Александрова – Утки, беленькие грудки
- Зинаида Александрова – У моря
- Зинаида Александрова – Топотушки
- Зинаида Александрова – Таня и волчок
- Зинаида Александрова – Смешные человечки
- Зинаида Александрова – Шарик
- Зинаида Александрова – Сама
- Зинаида Александрова – Ромашки
- Зинаида Александрова – Раз – два – три – четыре – пять
- Зинаида Александрова – Прятки
- Зинаида Александрова – Подснежник
- Зинаида Александрова – Песня моряков
- Зинаида Александрова – Одуванчик
- Зинаида Александрова – Новый снег
- Зинаида Александрова – Новые ясли
- Зинаида Александрова – Невидимка
- Зинаида Александрова – Мы оделись раньше всех
- Зинаида Александрова – Молодой месяц
- Зинаида Александрова – Мне рукою машет маленький сынок
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.